Walking for Heart Health

We often start the New Year with resolutions to improve our health and find over time that it is difficult to stick with a program. Walking is one of the best ways to get and stay fit. Perhaps a fitness tracker; also called an activity tracker, would help to stay motivated to get moving more and maintain an active lifestyle.

A fitness tracker can be a stand-alone device or one that is paired with a companion app on a smartphone. It can help track amount of activity, intensity, and time, but can also do more than just track steps taken. While fitness trackers cannot make a person more motivated, it often helps motivation when immediate feedback can be seen from activities.

Around 70% of adults in the United States do not reach the recommended amounts of physical activity, generally about 30 minutes of aerobic activity daily. If using a fitness tracker motivates a person to move more, it is beneficial for a long-term goal of improving health. 

Learn More:

Healthy lifestyle. [Internet] Mayo Clinic. Available from: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/walking/art-20047880

Guide to the Assessment of Physical Activity. [Internet] American Heart Association. Available from:  https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/01.cir.0000435708.67487.da

Behavior Change with Fitness Technology in Sedentary Adults.  [Internet] US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.  Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5225122/